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How can I reduce the cost of my Van insurance?

Van insurance can get expensive but it’s necessary in order to protect you and your livelihood. Comparing deals and shopping around is a proven strategy and the natural first step to saving money on your Van insurance. But what else can be done to help lower the cost? We’re often asked for advice on how to save money on Van insurance, so we’ve put this helpful guide together to explain how.

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How to lower the cost of Van insurance the right way

First things first, lets discuss honesty when it comes to dealing with insurance companies and the serious implications that providing false, inaccurate, or misleading information could have. As tempting as it may be to omit certain information about your job, your driving history, or your Van to help lower the cost of your insurance, it’s a big no no.

If you provide false personal information or neglect to tell your insurance company about convictions, claims, what you do for a living or any modifications to your Van, this will have serious consequences. You may find yourself in the situation whereby your insurance is invalidated with refusal to pay claims to both yourself or a third party. The Legal ramifications from this, especially the part about third parties could land you in a lot of trouble both financially and with the law.

There are many ways you can help to reduce the cost of Van insurance; however, dishonesty isn’t one of them. Be accurate, be honest and be confident that your properly protected should the worst happen.

  • How can I get cheaper Van insurance

    Firstly, don’t automatically accept your current insurance providers renewal quote and be sure to shop around. Just because you’ve been a loyal customer doesn’t always mean they will offer you the best renewal deal. Use our comparison portal to compare quotes from a range of top insurance providers. You may surprise yourself with the results. In addition, you can then consider the following factors to help reduce your premium further.

  • Agree to a higher voluntary excess

    Adjusting your voluntary excess is a quick way to help bring down the cost of your Van insurance premium. By specifying a higher voluntary excess, you are in effect agreeing to pay a bigger amount towards any claim that you might make. Since the insurer will be paying out less, they will reward you with a slightly lower premium.

    Its important to bear in mind that should you need to make a claim, you will be hit with both the compulsory excess AND the voluntary excess before the insurance company will agree to process your claim. Make sure that these amounts are affordable and can be paid should you need to make a claim.

  • Parking off the street

    Where your Van is parked overnight plays a big role in the cost of your cover. Vans that are parked on driveways or in garages when not in use, are less likely to fall victim to theft and have a lower risk of being damaged by other passing vehicles. If you lower the risk of something bad happening, you’ll lower the cost of your premium in the process.

  • Bigger isn’t always better

    You should think carefully about the Van you choose to drive, especially if you’re a younger driver. Getting cheaper Van insurance is all about lowering risk. If you drive a bigger, more powerful Van, statistically speaking, you’ve got a higher chance of being involved in an accident.

    Your insurance company base your premium on specific insurance groups as well as classes of use. If you own a Van that fits into a lower insurance group, you’ll quickly notice your premium dropping too. If you don’t need a big Van for your business, look to change to a smaller, lighter van with a less powerful engine. These also tend to be more economical, so you’ll save on overall running costs too.

  • Review your named drivers

    We understand that its often necessary to have more than one person insured on your Van, especially for business and commercial purposes. However, anyone insured on your policy who is under 25 or has a less than perfect driving record will certainly be pushing up the price you pay for cover.

    On a plus side, adding someone with a perfect driving record and 10+ years driving experience is likely to help reduce the cost of your Van insurance cover.

  • Avoid unnecessary modifications

    You should avoid altering the performance or appearance of your Van as this will almost certainly increase your insurance premium. You must declare any changes you have made to your Van including alloy wheels, tinted windows or upgraded stereo equipment.

    Modified parts make your Van more attractive to thieves, not to mention the fact they are usually more expensive to replace and performance modifications increase your likelihood of being involved in an accident.

    In most cases, modifying your Van from its factory set up is going to end up costing you more in the long run. Our advice is to leave the Van as standard unless it’s absolutely essential to your business activities.

  • Upgrade security features

    If your Van didn’t come with a factory fitted alarm or immobiliser, consider adding one. Additional security upgrades such as tracking devices, deadbolts or upgraded alarms could help to lower the cost of your insurance.

    Whenever possible, you should also consider emptying your Van at night and when not in use. In the eyes of the insurance companies, anything you can do to help reduce the chances of theft will be seen as helping to lower your overall risk. This will help bring down your premium.

  • Pay your premium annually

    If possible, you should pay for your cover up front for the entire year. Doing so will avoid any interest or additional charges imposed by the insurance company which are often associated with monthly payment plans. Interest on monthly insurance plans can sometimes be high and you also run the risk of your insurance lapsing should you fail to make a payment for one reason or another.

  • Limit your mileage

    If you use your Van for business purposes, its going to be hard to limit the amount of miles you drive in a year. But as far as your insurance company is concerned, the less time you’re on the road, the less chance you are of being involved in an accident. Where possible, limit the miles you drive to help bring down your insurance cost.

  • Build your No Claims Bonus (NCB)

    This one takes a bit of time but is by far the best way to bring down your renewal quote. All insurance companies will reward safe drivers. If you haven’t claimed throughout the course of the year, you’ll get a 1 year no claims bonus. The more years you build up, the more you’ll save.

    That being said, in order to maintain a good NCB, you’ll have to avoid making a claim. That goes for your named drivers too.

Think before you claim

Where you’re at fault and cause damage to your Van, including accident damage, you should consider paying for repairs yourself, rather than making a claim to the insurance company. If the damage is minimal, paying for repairs yourself can often be more cost effective in the long run and keep your NCB intact.

Consider NCB protection

Most insurance companies will offer you the chance to protect your no claims bonus, for an added cost of course. In the event you need to make a claim, you wont lose the NCB you have built up over the years. You will, however, still need to declare the claim come renewal time.

Be Careful

Driving carefully and watching out for other road users is the best and easiest way to avoid insurance premium increases. Limiting your chances of causing an accident by abiding by the UK road laws will help keep your premiums down. Staying the right side of the speed limit will avoid penalty points which damage your driving record for up to 4 years.

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